Monday, December 22, 2008

More land for birds in the Garden State

At the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, situated beneath one of North America's premier migratory bird flyways, every new parcel of land is as important as the center square in a patchwork quilt.

This month, 437 more acres of grasslands, salt marshes and forests were purchased by government agencies and conservation groups and added to properties that have been pieced together like scraps of fabric since 1989.

The latest acquisition, along Bidwell Creek in the southern part of the refuge, expands the wildlife refuge to 11,496 acres across Dennis, Lower, Middle and Upper Townships in Cape May County. The price was $6.8 million, bringing the total cost of refuge property to $27.2 million.

That this naturalists' paradise, which offers miles of unspoiled vistas on the coastal plain, exists on the Cape May peninsula is miraculous, say preservationists.